rbor of Sandusky, on Lake Erie, was supposed to be
easily accessible from Canada, and the Canadian shore; but it was left
to the judgment of the officer in command how the details were to be
arranged, his sole explicit instructions being not to violate the
neutrality of British territory. How this was to be avoided has ever
seemed impossible to me, but having been selected to command the
expedition, I resolved to disregard all personal consequences, and to
leave the responsibility to be borne by the Confederate Government. A
party of twenty-six officers of the different grades was detailed for
the service. The Lee, laden with a cargo of cotton, was to carry us to
Halifax, N. S.; the cotton to be consigned to a firm there, who were to
purchase, with a part of the proceeds, blankets, shoes, etc., for the
army; the balance to be retained for the benefit of the prisoners, if
released. My successor in command of the Lee took passage with us. We
sailed for Halifax on the night of October 10th, 1863. The season was so
far advanced, that we could not afford to lose even a day; we therefore
dropped down the Cape Fear River to Smithville as soon as the
preparations were completed, and although the night was very clear, I
determined to attempt the passage through the fleet soon after dark, so
as to get as far north along the coast as possible before daylight. We
crossed the western bar about nine o'clock at night, and instead of
"hugging" the shore, which would have carried us too far to the
southward and westward, the course was shaped so as to clear the Frying
Pan Shoals. We had been running at full speed for nearly an hour, when a
shot came whizzing a few feet over our bulwarks, and struck the water
just beyond us; it was followed immediately by another, which striking a
little short "ricocheted" over us; and then a third, which crashing
through the starboard bulwarks, burst in a cotton bale on the port side,
and set fire to it; several men being wounded by splinters and fragments
of the shells. The flames leaped high into the air, and there was a
momentary confusion on board, but the order to throw the burning bale
overboard was promptly executed, and for some time afterwards we could
see it blazing far astern. We never saw the cruiser which fired at us,
as she was inshore, and although several more shots were fired, each
succeeding one flew wider from the mark. We promptly sent up our two
rockets abeam, and experienced no furth